JMS Naval Architects & Salvage Engineers (JMS) acquired Roger Long Marine Architecture Inc. (RLMA). The acquisition includes exclusive rights to RLMA’s enormously successful Challenger class fast research vessels. Roger Long, RLMA’s founder and principal designer, will become a senior design consultant to JMS’ research vessel design projects. JMS and Roger Long have collaborated on several projects in the past and look forward to merging their resources and expanding the Challenger Class research vessel to new markets.
The R/V Gulf Challenger was designed and built in 1993 for the University of New Hampshire and immediately demonstrated that a small, fast research vessel can offer slow-speed efficiency and comfort equal to or better than heavier displacement vessels. Follow-on vessels in this series include the R/V Fay Slover selected as one of the 10 most significant vessels of the year by American Ship Review, the R/V Tioga owned by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and most recently the 81-ft R/V Rachel Carson launched in 2008 and owned by the University of Maryland. With a pair of 1,200 HP jet outdrives, the R/V Rachel Carson cruises at 24 knots allowing researchers more time on station and less time in transit, resulting in significant savings in time and operational costs.